Sept. 13, 2002
A lot of people bitch about rejection but I am one who actually finds use for it.
When my first book proposal was rejected, I didn’t weep for hours on end and fall into a heap of despair. Instead, I asked myself why was it rejected and the answer was obvious – it was crap. I took the publishers reason of rejection (there isn’t a market) and used that as a catalyst to make a better proposal. And I have.
If I query a magazine and get a rejection letter back, I ask myself why was it rejected. Was it a bad article? The wrong kind of article? A bad query? By answering these questions and examining the reasons why something didn’t work, I ultimately give myself a better chance of success next time.
A great example was I queried a magazine for a travel article. They told me they couldn’t use it at this time but liked my style and asked me to submit some more ideas – a successful rejection! If all I heard was, “NO!” then I wouldn’t now be working on a new article that will be published.
Sometimes, there’s just plain, nasty rejection where someone’s having a bad day or you remind them of their Aunt Ethel who made them eat brussle sprouts for breakfast. If my work is good and is rejected on the basis of “We just didn’t like it” I don’t take it personally – I just try to sell it somewhere else.
I’ve learned that for every no you get, you’ll receive a million yes’. Unfortunately the ‘no’ voices always come in louder than any yes. So sometimes when you’re rejected from one source, you don’t hear the acceptance from others. The key, is to remembering that not everyone has the same opinion.
Of course there will be people who will reject your work, but there will be a hell of a lot more who will accept it. You just have to find them.
Sept. 12, 2002
I spent the last week on a whirlwind business trip and discovered that the old saying is true. You do need a vacation after your vacation.
One night here, one night there, meeting with people, talking business, driving, it all added up to a very busy and tight schedule. I enjoyed it however, especially the business end. I got to meet people in the travel industry and talk travel – something I do best.
It was good that I did my first large-scale assignment in an area I was comfortable in. After spending two years living in Banff and several months living in Lake Louise, I knew the area, hotels and tour companies inside out. Meeting with hotel PR was easy because I understood the market and the properties. I also was treated like royalty – a definite job perk!
Although it was at times straining to balance taking notes with just sitting back and enjoying the scenery, it was a really good learning experience for next time.
It taught me how I want to work and what kind of travel writing I want to do. I know that I’ll never do a trip like this one again – too many places in too little time left little for writing about my experiences and more for simple critiques. I realised that this is something I truly love doing because it combines my passion of travel with my love of writing. I also discovered that I’m good at it – making deals, talking with travel people, noticing details, and writing about what I’ve done.
However, the most valuable lesson I learned from this trip was that on the next one I’ll be more indulgent with time – both personally and professionally. I’ll make way for the afternoon nap and set aside time for just taking notes. Because if I don’t find a balance somehow, I won’t last long as a travel writer. And I really want to.
Sept. 02, 2002
I’m leaving tomorrow on a business trip.
I’ve spent the past several weeks organising it – talking to sales people, arranging hotels, receiving press packets. I’ve been gathering article ideas, working on queries and all the while I’ve been thinking over and over, “This is what I want to do.”
When I first began writing I wasn’t sure what kind of writing I wanted to do. I was completely baffled by what I’d write, who I’d write for and how it all worked. All I knew is that I wanted to write.
I started to write human interest pieces because I had done that on a personal website for years with much success. When I submitted those articles to an editor, she rejected them but was interested in my website and asked if she could publish some entries. She did and I received such an amazing response from readers of the magazine that she published my entries again.
I became an Inspirational Writer.
The title always bothered me as it’s been my goal even before writing to be an inspiration by doing and not just by talking about something. I wanted to show people that it can be done because I did it and not just because I could write a good article on it. However, without direction and confidence, I continued to write inspirational essays.
It worked for me for awhile but I knew I wanted to do more. As I learned more about who I was and how I wrote, I realised that I needed to move into another direction, and travel writing seemed like a good place to do.
Getting into travel writing was hard because it was so different than what I was writing – it was a challenge that scared me at first but then slowly excited me.
The transition took awhile but as I gained confidence in my skills and abilities, I opened up my travel website, queried magazines like crazy and slowly started to become successful at it. By making the idea of travel writing real, I convinced myself that it wasn’t just something I wanted to do, but was doing.
And I have to say, I’m loving it.
Travel writing combines my passion for travel and story telling with my love of “making deals” as it were. Contacting hotel people and tour operators gives me that outside connection, the buzz of putting something together and the ability to share my inside knowledge (I worked in tourism for 6 years before getting into corporate America).
It’s taken me a lot of trial and error over a long period to find my niche in the writing world, but I’ve found it. And finding it has helped re-energise my passion and interest in writing.
I’m no longer drifting in the writing world – I’ve found my home.
August 20, 2002
I’ve learned to be a successful freelance writer, I have to play by the rules. And to play by the rules, I have to know them inside and out.
When I first began, I was naive enough to think that all I had to do as a writer, was write. Of course I’d mail off my work, a publisher would see it’s potential, offer me a great deal of money and praise me as they published my words.
Wrong.
There’s a sequence of events, a way of doing things in the writing world, and I’ve been learning them all for a very long time.
I’m aware of the processes – think of an idea, query a magazine, if accepted write the article and if rejected start all over. But even with the knowledge of what to do, I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about the process.
A while ago, I purchased the book, Writer’s Guide to Queries, Pitches & Proposals by Moira Anderson Allen and checked out the accompanying website, and these two things helped me get my ideas from my head and into magazines. Not only do I understand the process now, I’m a successful part of it.
As much as I like to toot my creative horn and flail my fists at linear thinking, business is still business. To get paid, there are certain rules I have to follow. I don’t mind, in fact, these are the first rules I’m not aimed to break.
August 10, 2002
For the most part, I’ve kept to myself. I haven’t joined any writer’s networks, support groups or attended conferences. I haven’t even offered any writing to friends to read through first. Solitude has been working for me, though I’m sure it has slowed my learning process.
An important writing conference is coming my way in October, and I’ve been debating whether or not to attend. My main motivation for going is to get help/inspiration for my book proposal – a process that has come to a complete halt as of late.
I know I need to find information and perhaps even talk to others on the same path, but I’m hesitant. Networking sometimes concerns me as I don’t want to spend my time just “talking about writing” – I actually want to do it. I’m unclear if spending $200 on a 3-day conference actually puts plans into actions or is jut one big pep rally.
I don’t know, I’m torn. This is a new arena for me and perhaps I should step into it to see if it’s something worth pursuing. After all, I already know that going it alone works. Maybe I should see what else does.
August 08, 2002
I haven’t felt like writing much. Blame it on bad weather, cabin fever, lack of fresh air. Actually, blame it on lack of motivation.
Even though I have articles that must be written, I have literally found one point five million reasons to avoid beginning any of them. None of them good mind you, so instead of just doing the inevitable of writing them, I’ve been dealing instead with guilt, frustration and fear of starting.
Once I begin a project, everything is fine and I always ask myself what took me so long. It’s just the process of starting that sometimes is hard and lately, impossible.
Today, however, I decided to get over myself, kick my own ass and start working.
I sat at my desk and stared at the blank screen. Nothing. I didn’t know where to start and was tempted to just give up until later. But I knew that later would be just the same. Instead, I remained in my seat and said to myself:
Write anything! Write a letter, write a paragraph. Write 2 facts. Write anything – just start typing!
And I did.
At first, I was in such a state that I wrote haphazardly. One paragraph here, another there. One sentence way out there and a word at the bottom. However, after awhile of just writing for the sake of it, I began to get my rhythm back. I found focus, inspiration and most importantly, an article.
As usual, when I was finished I asked myself what my problem was. Why was it so hard to begin? I couldn’t think of a smart answer. In fact, all I could think of was, sometimes it’s just that way. And the only thing I can do about it is to just keep trying to move forward, even if I don’t want to because usually, that’s what works.
Even if sometimes I don’t want to admit it.
Elsewhere